沈魏

Video: 沈魏 discusses his residency at Meadows.

沈魏 is an acclaimed choreographer, director, dancer, painter and designer whose many honors include the Mac艺术hur "Genius" Award. As the artistic director of New York-based 沈伟舞蹈艺术, he is widely recognized for his defining vision of an intercultural, interdisciplinary and original mode of movement-based performance. 沈魏's works use visual and storytelling elements from the theater, 中国戏曲, and traditional and contemporary art to create what one reviewer called "a fascinating fantasy in movement." For each work created with his company, 沈魏 also develops the sets, costumes and make-up designs.

沈魏's residency in Dallas is taking place over winter-spring 2012. It includes a new work choreographed for SMU dance students, to be presented at their 2012 Spring 跳舞 Concert 3月28日至4月1日.

湖南人, 中国, in 1968, 沈魏 left home at the age of nine to study 中国戏曲 in almost total seclusion. Over the next eight years he mastered the xiao sheng (young male) role, along with the disciplines of traditional Chinese ink painting and calligraphy. He also studied Western visual art from Neo-Classicism to Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism, which gave rise to a sensibility that led to modern dance.

In 1991 he became a founding member of the Guangdong Modern 跳舞 Company, the first modern dance company in 中国. In 1995, when offered a fellowship to move to New York to study with the Nikolais/Louis 跳舞 Lab, he gave up the comfort and stability of a state-subsidized life in the arts and, with $500 in his pocket, 几个朋友, and three words of English (“yes”, “no” and “thank-you”), he set out to make a new life in the U.S.

Following his debut at the American 跳舞 Festival that same year, his work was seen in Taiwan (1996), at New York’s Asia Society (1997)，在 斯德哥尔摩舞厅 (1999) Brighton 艺术s Festival (2000) 爱丁堡艺术节 (2000), and at the Millennium Moves Festival (Germany, 2000). In July 2000 he formed 沈伟舞蹈艺术 (SWDA) with performances of 靠近露台 at the American 跳舞 Festival. In 2003 his company made its New York debut at the Lincoln Center Festival.

For the past 10 years, 沈伟舞蹈艺术 has toured extensively on five continents. 沈魏 has created 11 new works for SWDA: 靠近露台 Part One (2000), 折叠 (2000), 在共振 (2001), 靠近露台 Part Two (2001), 春之祭 (2003), 连接传输 (2004), Second Visit to the Empress (2005), Map (2005), 回复-第一部分 (2006), 回复-第II部 (2007)和 回复-第三部 (2009). 整个 Re- Tryptich premiered at Alice Tully Hall in 2009, opening the Lincoln Center Festival. In 2008, 沈魏 was commissioned to choreograph part of the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. 2010年7月, he premiered a piece for Les Ballets de Monaco, which incorporated film he created for the piece and utilized a fully electronic score. In September 2010, he created choreography for the Rome Opera’s production of Rossini’s 莫伊斯和法老, which premiered in December 2010.

In recognition of these achievements, 沈魏 has been honored with the Mac艺术hur “Genius” Award and John Simon Guggenheim and United States 艺术ist Prudential Fellowships. He has received six commissions from the American 跳舞 Festival, two from Het Muziektheater Amsterdam, two from the Lincoln Center Festival, 还有两个来自 约翰F. Kennedy Center for the Performing 艺术s. SWDA has been honored with residencies at the 约翰F. Kennedy Center, Syracuse University and Duke University.

As a visual artist independent of 沈伟舞蹈艺术, 沈魏 is a painter, designer and photographer. A series of paintings created in conjunction with his ballet, 春之祭, were first exhibited as part of the company’s New York debut at the Lincoln Center Festival in 2003. 2006年10月, the paintings toured with the company at the Hong Kong New Vision Festival, and in July 2007 they returned to New York in tandem with the company’s performance there of Second Visit to the Empress as part of the Lincoln Center Festival. His book of photography, 西藏, was created to raise awareness of that region. Its proceeds support the Pandedajie School and Dickey Orphanage in Lhasa.